A landlord-tenant clash at the former Modell's space in Bay Ridge has turned a supposed feel-good project into a legal soap opera. The dispute at 531 86th Street, now home to Launch Trampoline Park, revolves around unpaid rent, construction delays and a broker's commission. For neighborhood families, the trampolines are still bouncing while the adults fight it out over who owes what.
Landlord and tenant trade blows
As reported by Crain's New York Business, landlord-developer Tim Ziss told tenant Sammy Alsidi to "go to hell" and filed a suit in December claiming Alsidi owes more than $300,000 in unpaid rent. Alsidi told the outlet he stopped paying in October 2024 and had earlier proposed several months of free rent as compensation for delays and problems at the site. Crain's reported that the two sides are trading blame over missed deadlines, quality of the work and who should pay for finishing the project.
From Modell's to trampolines
The 22,000-square-foot space that once housed Modell's was targeted for family entertainment, a plan local officials began touting in 2023 that quickly caught neighborhood attention. BK Reader reported Councilmember Justin Brannan's effort to bring Launch Trampoline Park to the corridor, and the New York Business Journal later profiled operator Sammy Alsidi and the conversion of the former sporting goods store. Taken together, those accounts show the storefront was pitched as a community amenity even as ownership and financing shifted behind the scenes.
Developer's financial backdrop
Ziss, who also uses the name Efthimios Zisimopoulos, has a history of bankruptcy filings and contested deals in Bay Ridge that forms the backdrop for the current fight. PincusCo reviewed a January 2025 Chapter 11 filing for a nearby medical-office project at 437 88th Street, and The Real Deal has previously reported on Ziss's neighborhood acquisitions and disputes. That record suggests the Launch quarrel is one strand in a wider web of financial and legal entanglements around his Bay Ridge holdings.
Two lawsuits, two fronts
According to Crain's New York Business, broker Timothy King has sued Ziss in federal bankruptcy court, claiming a $352,836 unpaid commission and alleging that an agreement misidentified the property's owner as Allied Properties LLC instead of 403 LLC. At the same time, Ziss's separate suit accuses Alsidi of owing more than $300,000 in rent. Documents cited by Crain's indicate a September 2024 contract that set a November 30, 2024 completion deadline that contractors did not meet. The result is a three-way legal tangle in which landlord, tenant and broker are all pressing competing claims over rent, fees and responsibility for the build-out.
What this means for Bay Ridge
Despite the courtroom drama, local reporting indicates Launch Trampoline Park has stayed open and continues drawing families to the block. The New York Business Journal quoted Alsidi saying the park was meant to address a community need, while neighborhood outlets noted that elected officials and Allied Properties promoted the conversion from big-box retail to an entertainment use. For residents, the clash is a reminder that flashy redevelopment promises often come bundled with fine print, shifting partnerships and, when things sour, messy legal fallout.
The lawsuits and any related bankruptcy proceedings will ultimately determine whether the current operator stays put, whether the broker is paid and how repair and completion costs are divided. For now, the trampolines are still in action on 86th Street, and Bay Ridge watchers are looking to the next round of filings and motions to see how this standoff lands.
